Vettel: “The absence of graining made the difference”

The victory at Mexican Grand Prix has long seemed to head into the clan Ferrari, Charles Leclerc et Sebastian Vettel showing himself in verve at the start of the race before the strategic choices of Mercedes no longer prove appropriate to offer success for Lewis Hamilton.

Starting on a one-stop strategy, Vettel had greatly extended his first stint, thus countering the Briton, who returned to the pits much earlier than the Ferrari driver. But the latter knew how to manage his set of hard tires well to reach the finish line as the winner.

“As Lewis recalled, I think before the race we were quite confident that we would need a certain number of laps to only make one stop., comments Vettel. When Lewis stopped, this was not yet the case.

We were 1st and 2nd and the two stops seemed to be the best strategy. So we “separated” the cars. When Lewis came back through the pitlane, I think it was borderline and probably a little too early, but, as he said, he managed the tires well and had enough towards the end.

Additionally, we didn't see any graining in the race, unlike Friday, which I think made the biggest difference. In hindsight, perhaps we could say that we could have taken more risks, but you are in the unknown. »

The four-time world champion also believes he lost time on his exit lap, running into traffic. “Maybe we could have completed a lap earlier because I was in traffic and there was Sainz - or Norris, I don’t know – one McLaren and Toro Rosso, and I lost three seconds right after that lap.

It didn't help, but it's obviously difficult to predict that these two drivers on this lap will be battling it out. We tried everything. Lewis drove well, he made the tires last and I think Mercedes in the race were maybe a little faster than us. »

The Briton was, however, unable to secure the 2019 world title, Valtteri Bottas pushing back the deadline to at least Austin next Sunday.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Mexican Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Mexico City, in issue 2240 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.